After a hectic few days I simply haven’t had time to produce an in depth piece about the Bering Strait…..so instead I will shoot from the hip and tell you what I know off the top of my head.

The Bering Strait lies just outside the north polar circle and of course separates the USA from Russia. At its narrowest point there is just 86km between the 2 continents. However just 4km is the distance between Big Diomede and Little Diomede Island, the former Russian territory, the latter American.

A relatively shallow area  with an average depth of between 30 and 49m makes for large waves and the proximity to the arctic sees harsh storms arrive with little or no warning. Water temperature on the surface around the end of July through to the end of August should be between 4c and 8c, though the mercury could dip to as low as 2c in places. Interestingly experienced Alaskan fishermen advocate keeping a watch out for sea ice even during the summer.

Getting to the area from either Europe/Asia or America is not easy. There are no roads and only a few airports with little tourist infrastructure, in fact few people inhabit the area around the Bering Strait on both sides. On the Russian side the area of Chutktka is self governing and is still considered as a restricted border zone, therefore it is very difficult to enter this region and a special permit must be granted from the local authorities and it isn’t simply a case of arriving and doing the paperwork, you must arrange it well in advance.

It is possible that back in time the Bering Strait wasn’t covered by water and this ridge of land connected the American and Eurasian continent providing a lbridge that allowed people to cross from Eurasia and populate America.

Winter swimming may not be possible during winter as the Bering Strait is frozen so we will attempt the crossing at the end of July when the water is at its warmest and with mother nature on our side we will make it to the other side.

For more information about the swim see here